The other night, I went over to the Seretean Center for the Performing Arts to see Tony Woolf speak about his use of fight styles in film, theater and the opera. I had never been to this place, but it has a nice, cozy theater complete with a pet bat named "Kirby" that flies around as it pleases.
Anyway, on to Tony Woolf, the reason for the show. He gave his life story about his travels all around the world beginning with his childhood in New Zealand. He got his start as a stuntman and professional wrestler.
He said his most dangerous stunt involved jumping from six stories into an indoor Olympic swimming pool. The guy that was supposed to break the surface tension by turning on the bubble machine did not realize you had to hold down the button. So, Tony saw the bubbles and jumped down, but by the time he reached the water, the water had settled and he smashed into it at free fall. The next day, he had bruises all over his body. Sounds really painful!
Tony has worked all over the world choreographing fight scenes for theater and film. His most notable work in America was working with Peter Jackson on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. From the way Tony described it, the trilogy was the most exhausting thing he had ever done.
His main duty for the movies was to create cultural fighting styles for each of the different creatures. He had to create unique styles for the elves, orcs, hobbits, wizards, etc. He had to figure out how each character moved and walked. Then, he had to train the actors.
Tony's unique approach to choreographing fight scenes involves directing the movement first as opposed to the actual combat. He wants to make sure that his actors have the movement down before incorporating the actual fighting. The man is very smart and definitely knows what he is doing.
He was done work on almost every continent as he spends time traveling and conducting workshops to teach his fight styles. He also continues to work with film and theater. Tony claims that theater is his favorite, especially Shakespeare.
From what I can tell, his job is pretty sweet. He said he spent a period of time in Japan where he worked one day a week choreographing a 37 second fight scene, and the rest of the time he explored Japan. Sounds awesome!
Tony is at Oklahoma State teaching some students his styles and collaborating on a book about his approach. He was a great speaker and with so many questions, the presentation dragged on for over 2 hours.
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